After a series of performances in Europe in 2020, the duo of German saxophonist Angelika Niescier (Angelika Niescier sublim) and British pianist Alexander Hawkins recorded this passionately charged and intimate duo at the Loft in Koln, Germany, finding the two in a high-speed dance of weaving notes and ardent expression, a brilliant set from two virtuoso players.
Format: CD Condition: New Released: 2021 Country: Switzerland Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold 3 Panels Recorded at Loft, in Koln, Germany, in September, 2020, by Christian Heck.
"When Alexander Hawkins played at the Jazzfest Berlin in a duo with the American trumpeter Wadada leo Smith, he met the saxophonist Angelika Niescier. Niescier was playing at the festival with her New York Trio with bassist Christopher Tordini and drummer Tyshawn Sorey ("The Berlin Concert", Intakt CD 305). Niescier has also been honored in Berlin with the albert Mangelsdorff Prize, Germany's most prestigious jazz award.
Hawkins is fascinated by Niescier's saxophone playing, and Niescier in turn is ardent about Hawkins' music. They stand on the same ground - both have their roots in jazz, and both love the jazz avant-garde of Ornette Coleman and Cecil Taylor. Two technically skilled instrumentalists with sparkling temperament, drive and joy in experimentation.
After several duo concerts, the studio album by Niescier and Hawkins, recorded at the loft in Cologne, is now available. The American jazz critic Stephanie Jones writes in the liner notes: "Soul in Plain Sight reveals layers of mutual navigation. Angelika Niescier and alexander Hawkins court similarities and delight in differences... buoying and challenging each other's inclinations, the artists navigate shared sound with compassion and nuance."-Intakt
"Some pairings were just meant to be. Exhibit one, Soul In Plain Sight by the duo of Angelika Niescier and Alexander Hawkins. Niescier, the Polish-born Germany-based saxophonist, met the British pianist Hawkins at the Berlin Jazzfest. Their mutual admiration led to a brief tour and this recording. The music succeeds here because of the musicians' balanced approach and compatible natures. Opening with the cleanse and purge of the improvised "Brawls And Squabbles," the pair spar with push/pull jabs. Hawkins hammers fisted notes while Niescier delivers squawks and overblown notes as this opening salvo announces this new partnership.
Of the fourteen tracks, eight are improvised, three were penned by Niescier and two by Hawkins. The lone cover is "Arhythm Songy" by Muhal Richard Abrams. Recorded in 1977 in a session with saxophonist Anthony Braxton, the composition links Niescier and Hawkins to both the AACM and Braxton. Hawkins would be engaged by Braxton to tour Europe in 2020 playing jazz and pop standards, which can be heard in the massive 13-CD box set Quartet (Standards) 2020 (New Braxton House, 2021) and Niescier draws much of her inspiration (and sound) from Braxton. That connection can be heard or her Intakt recordings with Tyshawn Sorey and Christopher Tordini. The listener can can favor either musician's compositions or choose their free improvisations. Niescier's "Metamorphose Einerka Karelle" plays out as drunken bebop and Hawkins' "Scops" tinkle trinkles as an alluring ballad. The very brief "Weft," "Loom," and "Scope," which together don't add up to five minutes of music, are classics in miniature asking for an encore, as does this duo. More please."-Mark Corroto, All About Jazz